Pellegrini still expecting further twists in title tale

Manuel Pellegrini has denied Manchester City have surrendered a championship-winning advantage, insisting Liverpool could drop points to allow his team to again take charge of the title race.

Towards the end of March City were three points behind the leaders, Chelsea, with two matches in hand. But after drawing 1-1 at Arsenal on March 29th and losing 3-2 to Liverpool on Sunday, Pellegrini’s side know that even if both extra games are won they will still be a point behind the Merseyside club.

Asked if City have surrendered a strong advantage in their bid for a second title in three seasons, the manager said: “No, the opportunity we lost [means that now] we don’t depend on what we can do, of course. But it was a tough game against Liverpool in their own stadium.

“We didn’t deserve to lose that game but things happen. We continue with the same trust and we’ll do it till the end of the season. We still have two games in hand and we hope we can win those six points.”

While Sunderland are at the Etihad Stadium tonight, Pellegrini is convinced Liverpool and Chelsea, who are five points ahead, having played two matches more, are still capable of slipping up.

Whole season
"You have the whole season and maybe all the teams lost some games away, Liverpool against Hull or Chelsea against Crystal Palace, all the teams will drop points in unexpected games," he said. "The season is very close for all the teams. But for now we are fighting with the same chances as the others.

“Of course it is possible Liverpool can drop points, or Chelsea, or our team also. Any team can drop points every week. In the Premier League all the games are close and it’s not easy to go and win.”

Pellegrini has suffered the serious blow of losing Yaya Toure for up to a fortnight because of a muscle injury. That means the Ivorian, whose 18 goals make him the Premier League's third highest goalscorer, behind only Luis Suarez and Sergio Aguero, may miss at least three of City's final six matches in the league.

“Yaya has a muscle injury. We will see with the doctor how many days,” said the manager. “Maybe it is not so bad as we thought, but I think he needs at least 10 days or two weeks to recover.”

Vincent Kompany, who was at fault for two of Liverpool's goals, including Philippe Coutinho's 78th-minute winner, entered the match as a concern due to a knee injury. But he and Aguero, who came on as a 68th-minute substitute following a hamstring problem, are available for Sunderland's visit.

“Kompany is okay, fit, he is on the squad list. Sergio also,” said Pellegrini, who stuck by his decision to choose Kompany at Anfield.

Sunderland put up a decent fight when the sides met in the Capital One Cup final last month and despite their subsequent loss of form, Pellegrini is still wary of them. “I think it is very dangerous, the position that they are in the table . . . . Sunderland are in a very bad position and they know they have to win so they will be very dangerous.”

City are confident their finances are in good order as Uefa prepares to rule on sanctions under its financial fair play regulations. Pellegrini said: “First of all it is important to know what Uefa will have to say and then we can have an opinion. It is important for the club but I am not the person in charge of those kinds of things.”

A decision may not be made until early May when City, or any one of the 76 clubs being investigated, could face a probationary period, be fined, have a transfer embargo imposed on them, or even be excluded from European competition if found guilty.

While City have made total losses of around €181 million in the past two seasons, the trend is downwards, with the sum twice being halved. In 2012-13 the deficit was €62.48 million.

The Club Financial Control Body's investigatory chamber has been meeting to consider the cases of 76 clubs. Any considered to have committed serious breaches will be referred to the CFCB's adjudicatory panel for a final verdict, with Uefa to announce details of all sanctions around May 5th.
Guardian Service